Steps of solidarity

Dance has always been a means to bring people together, its tacit messages bridging cultural divides of language and perception.

And so it was at the Indonesian Dance Festival VII, where dancers from around the world came together at Graha Bhakti Budaya, Taman Ismail Marzuki and Gedung Kesenian Jakarta to share their knowledge and express themselves over four days until Saturday.

Founded in 1992 to provide an arena for performances, discussions and workshops, today the festival ".. has been supplemented with dance education, which we hope will help prod the development of new talent, collaboration, experimentation and a cultural avenue to respect differences," festival director Nungki Kusumastuti told Kompas daily.

While some of the dancers are already well-respected names, such as Japan's Min Tanaka, others are relative newcomers, given the chance to show their skills in the "Emerging Choreographers" showcase.

When the festival closed and the dancers prepared to leave for their homes, whether in Indonesia or Taiwan, the Netherlands, United States or Australia, a greater sense of togetherness had been formed between them.

-- Text and photos by R. Berto Wedhatama